PH Supreme Court voids GSIS rule denying survivorship benefits to secondary beneficiaries

The Supreme Court (SC) has voided a Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) regulation that barred secondary beneficiaries from receiving survivorship benefits from deceased members who had rendered at least three but less than 15 years of government service.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the SC’s Third Division ruled that Section 24.2.2 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 8291, or the Government Service Insurance Act of 1997, was issued beyond the GSIS’ rule-making authority. The Court declared that the provision cannot be enforced insofar as it contradicts Section 21(c) of the law.

The case stemmed from the claim filed by Petronilo B. Laroco after the death of his daughter, Cristie C. Laroco, a public school teacher who had served in government for 13 years and paid GSIS contributions for 12 years. Cristie died unmarried and without children.

GSIS denied Laroco’s application, citing Section 24.2 of its IRR, which limited survivorship benefits to primary beneficiaries when a deceased member had served less than 15 years.

Since Cristie had no spouse or children but had only completed 13 years of service, GSIS ruled that her father was not entitled to survivorship benefits.

After the Court of Appeals upheld the denial, Laroco elevated the matter to the SC, arguing that the GSIS regulation improperly removed a benefit that Congress had expressly granted under the law.

The High Court agreed, ruling that secondary beneficiaries may receive survivorship benefits if there is no primary beneficiary, they meet the dependency requirements under the law, the member died while still in government service, and the member had completed at least three years of service.

According to the SC, the GSIS regulation unlawfully introduced an additional condition by restricting survivorship benefits for secondary beneficiaries to cases involving members with at least 15 years of service.

The Court acknowledged the GSIS’ concern over what it viewed as an imbalance in the law but emphasized that administrative agencies cannot revise legislation through implementing rules.

The SC noted that the law already distinguishes between beneficiaries based on a member’s length of service.

Beneficiaries of members who served at least 15 years may receive a survivorship pension, while those whose deceased relatives served at least three but less than 15 years may receive a lump-sum cash benefit equivalent to 100 percent of the member’s average monthly compensation for every year of service with paid contributions.

By issuing the contested IRR provision, the Court said the GSIS effectively took on a legislative function reserved for Congress.

“[The GSIS’] conduct also runs counter to the fundamental principle that social security statutes, such as [the GSIS Act], must be liberally construed in favor of the employee and their beneficiaries precisely because such laws are designed to promote social justice and to protect the workers and their families from contingencies, such as disability and death, that result in loss of income or financial burden.”

The SC added that if the GSIS believes changes to the survivorship provisions of the law are necessary, it should seek legislative amendments from Congress rather than impose them through administrative regulations.

The Court remanded the case to the GSIS Committee on Claims for the computation of the survivorship benefits due to Laroco.

-Paraluman News